Communication

Here we are in the middle of nowhere, communicating with the world every evening by e-mail and an Iridium satellite phone. Our blog posts take shape as we ski and we often use our breaks to try out ideas and get comments. A suitable picture is taken when the day’s topic has been selected. One critical factor in our communication is electricity. We use a solar panel to charge the central unit that runs our PC, the Iridium phone and the batteries for our digital and video cameras. We have lots of gadgets that run on electricity so our solar panel must often lie spread out across a sled as we ski.

Our solar panel is all set to recharge in the midnight sun. Photo: Norwegian Polar Institute

In addition to our blog and our contacts with the Norwegian Polar Institute, we communicate daily with the operations people at ALE who are responsible for our safety. We have a so-called tracker that transmits our position to them, and we also send them e-mail. We have two satellite phones that we use for pre-arranged conversations with schools, media contacts, and for personal phone calls. These phones can also be used in emergencies. Still, the amount of energy we produce – and our own energy levels – place some limitations on how much we can communicate with the outside world.

Today we had a fresh breeze from guess which quarter… the south! But with our necks bent and our heads bowed, we put in 32 km. Snow conditions were good. And the sun continues to shine, for the 15th day in a row now.

Nearly 10% of the “land” area of Antarctica is ice shelves. Researchers are currently studying one of the largest of these, Fimbulisen, to find answers to important questions about the Earth’s climate.

South Pole 1911–2011 is an informational outreach project run by the Norwegian Polar Institute
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